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bring home your baby...

As I think back to my little man being a small baby, I remember the things that I couldn't have lived without during his first couple of months and I thought I'd share some of them with you. Whether you have a baby now, are planning on having one, or have friends who are having babies, I hope this list can be of help. Over the last couple of months I've had three women stop me in the baby section of Target and ask me questions about what things I've needed/wanted/would give a friend. Here is my little list:

We loved using these glass bottles so that my husband could give our little one 1 feeding a night. It made me feel amazing to have that one longer (ahem...4 hours if you're lucky) stint of sleep and was a good bonding opportunity for them. With the glass bottles you don't have to worry about many of the things you have to with plastic. We never used them in the microwave but you can since they are glass.

This little guy was a sleep saver for me! The first ten weeks my son slept in his moses basket, parallel to us, near the foot of our bed. (Thank goodness for a king size bed!) We loved having him close. Bringing home a baby for the first time, wanting rest, not being 100% sure what the heck you are doing...it's all hard. It's even harder when you aren't sleeping. When your new little precious life is breathing in the same room as you it's almost impossible not to overanalyze each little sound they make. Having the sleep sheep going helped me not to focus on every sound he was making and be able to fall asleep. (Running a load of laundry and we were falling asleep helped too.)

Truth be told, I found this journal at Madewell years ago and saved it for just these days. I knew I'd want to keep track of little details but wouldn't have time or the focus to write them all down. The journal has small spaces for just a few lines or words for each day of the year. Each day has divisions for 5 years worth. It has allowed me to keep track of mini milestones but also precious moments, like watching the clouds pass over the full moon during a 3 am feeding when my son was 4 weeks old.

Boy or girl...there is no baby that shouldn't sleep in a gown for their parent's sanity. With a little babe who is in constant need of feeding and changing and sleeping, having no snaps, buttons, or zippers to work around is a lifesaver. Plus, in the beginning days there is no real day and night so you can just keep them in these twenty four hours a day.

These blankets do it all! We used them as traditional swaddles (our little couldn't sleep without being swaddled for months), to drap cover the carseat to block him from the sun and more, as a burp cloth and just about anything else you can imagine. They are lightweight, easy to wash, easy to pack, and come in the cutest prints.

Our moses basket was given to us by a dear friend and I'm so grateful for it. I mentioned above that we used it to cosleep in the beginning. Once we were ready, we put it in his crib so that he would get used to sleeping in a new room while still in a place he was comfortable with. It is easy to move from place to place, our son would nuzzle his face into the cozy fabric on the side as he fell asleep, and the lining comes out easy for the wash.

As silly as it may sound, we loved the confidence these gave us while diaper changing. We used them on the changing table so that little accidents didn't become HUGE headaches. We only used them for a few months because we didn't want to create excess waste but while we had them, there were plenty of times that were so glad to have them down.